Much Afraid
by butterflystarr
Summary: Harry's 6th year and new adventure. Something's wrong with Sirius, there's Ginny's strange birthday present, and lots more. Great new chapter!!! **CHAPTER 9 added** Please R&R!!!!
1. Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.not even the title  
  
Chapter 1 Escape  
  
Harry sighed as he looked out the window. If only there was a way to escape without causing a ruckus, or using magic. Well, it was only one more week, right? If it were possible, summer at the Dursley's had been the worst yet. He was hardly allowed out of his room at all.not even for meals! Uncle Vernon swore that Harry's increased height came from the overfeeding he received from "that absurd excuse for a school." It was true, Harry had gained several inches and now met his uncle eye to eye. Dudley's pants looked even more ridiculous on him as they fell two inches above his ankle and were bunched awkwardly around his waist. So, Harry was allowed to come out and finish the dishes and could take half of Dudley's leftovers. However, this wasn't such a bad thing after all. Two days into the summer, when he realized it was going to remain this way for the rest of the summer, Harry owled Ron, pleading for intervention. Just as he thought, within two hours it was Mrs. Weasley to the rescue, he received a huge basket with food enough for two Dudeys. After that, Harry received regular meals as if he himself was sitting at the table at the Burrow.  
  
Just as Harry turned from his window, resigning himself to another week at the Dursley's, he heard a roar that sounded vaguely like his name. "HARRY!" Yep, it was Uncle Vernon. Harry quickly slipped out of his room and down the hall only to run straight into.Hermione?  
  
"What are you doing here??????"  
  
"That's what I'd like to know," growled Uncle Vernon, glancing sideways at Hermione in distrust.  
  
"Well, are you surprised? My parents insisted on driving me to the Burrow so they could meet all the Weasley's, and I agreed only if they would take you along as well. We couldn't very well have all that fun without you for a week."  
  
"Great!" Harry replied cheerfully and headed back to his room to get his things.  
  
"Just one second." Uncle Vernon stepped into his path, and even though Harry matched him in height, Uncle Vernon was a much larger man and blocked the entire hallway. "What makes you think that I'm going to let you out of this house with this.girl and her parents. They're probably just as creepy as she is."  
  
"Actually," Hermione interrupted, "my parents are muggles. They're dentists and just as.normal.as you are." She smiled sweetly and looked Uncle Vernon straight in the eye.  
  
Uncle Vernon went to the window and peered at Hermione's parents and their seemingly normal car. Suddenly, a smile spread across his face. Harry almost jumped, he hadn't seen a genuine smile on his uncle's face in a long time. Uncle Vernon looked curiously at Hermione, then looking straight at Harry but addressing Hermione he asked, "You'll leave here in the decent way? No funny stuff?"  
  
"Absolutely," she grinned at Harry.  
  
"Well, then," Uncle Vernon looked downright pleased, "on with you boy. No doubt you're already packed and ready to go."  
  
Harry wasted no time in getting his trunk and Hedwig's cage, still not believing his luck and Hermione's genius. Well, maybe he could believe Hermione's genius. As Hermione helped pack his things in the car, Harry yelled goodbye to Aunt Petunia and Dudley, who looked on in disbelief. Once they were in the car and safely away from Privet Drive, Harry let out a sigh of relief. Hermione turned to him and grinned, "So what did you think of my plan?"  
  
"It was great! Couldn't have thought of a better way out myself."  
  
"Of course it's not a flying car, but."  
  
"Hey, we would have been fine if we hadn't crashed into that stupid tree."  
  
"The Whomping Willow."  
  
"Yeah, that. How could I forget?"  
  
As they settled in for the ride to the Burrow, Mrs. Granger asked when Harry's last dental check-up had been and reminded him of the necessity of good dental hygiene. Hermione rolled her eyes and started chatting about their reading list for their 6th year. Hermione was planning to get duplicate books so that she could mark up one all she wanted when she was studying and have a fresh set for her own personal library.  
  
"Why don't you just use some magical ink that'll disappear as soon as exams are over," Harry suggested, hoping that she would stop talking about textbooks as if they were some buried treasure.  
  
Hermione seemed to give this some thought before snapping out of it and saying, "Well, disappearing ink might leave some residue. I want to have the perfect library." She seemed a bit huffy after this, taking the hint that Harry didn't want to talk about school, but it didn't last long. Soon they chatting happily about their friends, their teachers, past pranks, quidditch, and why Hermione wasn't going to be a prefect again that year.  
  
"Why did you turn down the offer?" Harry asked with a sly look on his face.  
  
"Well, it really took too much time away from my studies. Honestly, with the O.W.L.s and everything, I shouldn't have been wasting time running after all those first years." She hesitated slightly and then smiled smugly.  
  
"And?" Harry prodded.  
  
"And what?"  
  
"You're not telling me that you gave all that up because you couldn't take the pressure. Besides, you got twelve O.W.L.s anyway."  
  
"So?"  
  
"HERMIONE!"  
  
"And it was too hard to be a prefect with you and Ron getting me in trouble all the time," she finally said. "Besides," she continued, "I don't know by what miracle you got eleven O.W.L.s."  
  
Harry burst into laughter, knowing full well that Hermione had far too many brushes with detention (even though she never actually got detention) for her comfort. At this, Hermione pretended to get huffy again and pulled out Hogwarts: A History, ignoring Harry to punish him for making her admit the real reason she had turned down the offer. Honestly, if it would have jeopardized her potential to become Head Girl, she would never have turned it down, but as it was, she was already pretty sure there was no one else they could give that to, not even a Ravenclaw, which had a long history of turning out Head Girls. They spent the rest of the ride silently, Hermione reading and Harry planning out Quidditch strategies. Before they knew it, Mr. Granger stopped the car in front of the Burrow and announced their arrival.  
  
  
  
~A/N: Well, that's just the first chapter, I should be able to get more up soon. Tell me if you all like it. Oh, and it might take a little while to get to the Harry/Ginny interaction, but don't worry, it'll come. 


	2. Back to the Burrow

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything but the plot; I don't make money from it either.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Back to the Burrow  
  
Harry and Hermione practically jumped out of the car leaving Mr. and Mrs. Granger trailing behind. Before they even got up to the house, Ron swung the door open with a crash. Fred and George were right behind him, and not exactly expecting him to stop so suddenly, crashed into Ron from behind, leaving the three of them sprawled out in a dog pile on the Weasley's front step. Ron quickly climbed out from under the twins and ran down to meet his friends.  
  
"You're here!" Ron shouted as the three of them met in a huge group hug. Then, as if they suddenly realized how old they were, all three pulled back, blushing at a bewildered Mr. and Mrs. Granger and a snickering Fred and George.  
  
"Well, . . . alright then. Let's go inside, Mum's made supper."  
  
Harry paused. "You knew I was coming?"  
  
"Of course I did. You think Hermione would just pull something off like that without letting me in on it?"  
  
Harry looked quizzically from one of his best friends to the other and then grinned. The thought of spending one extra week at the Burrow instead of at 4 Privet Drive was good enough that he would let them slide on not telling him. Besides, this way, he could spend his birthday with his real family. The three friends headed in toward the house, meeting Fred and George on the way in. The twins busied themselves falling all over Harry, mimicking Ron's earlier actions. Ron muttered something that sounded like, "And they're supposed to be adults."  
  
Molly Weasley ushered everybody into the house before greeting all her guests, including Hermione's parents. Soon, the rest of the Weasley family joined them. Mr. Weasley and Percy arrived home from work, Ginny came down from her room still reading a book and even Bill who was visiting joined the family at the table.  
  
"Well," Mrs. Weasley said smiling, "it's been quite awhile since we had twelve people at the table. It gets so lonely during the year with everyone away at school and everything."  
  
"We'll be here this year Mum, don't worry!" said George with a sly smile on his face. The twins, who had graduated from Hogwarts the year before, had their new store set up in Hgsmeade, but they were going to stay at home until they gained enough profit to move out.  
  
"Hmph. And I better not see anymore of your inventions lying about or being mixed in the sink either. I thought that's why you got a workroom! Just this morning, the entire kitchen sink was covered with some green slime. I though I had gotten it all cleaned up, but I think it's still sticky," Mrs. Weasley glared meaningfully at the twins.  
  
"That's great Mum! That means it worked."  
  
"Not in my kitchen!"  
  
"Alright, but that's still great."  
  
Mrs. Weasley sighed as she turned her attention to the Grangers and the conversation they were already having with Mr. Weasley. As the adults chatted away, Harry glanced around the table to take it all in. Even though it had only been a couple of months, he felt like he had been away from the wizarding world forever. It was strange, as his eyes swept over the people at the table he noticed that those two months really had made a difference. Ron had gotten even taller than Harry, taller than Fred and George, although he still had a very boyish look about him. Hermione had long since tamed her hair, but she now had a glow and charm about her that didn't really show during the school year while she was pouring over books and notes. Ginny had cut her hair short, leaving the red curls falling flirtatiously around her face and shoulders. Ginny had gained a level of confidence that was a far cry from the little girl who had stuck her elbow in the butter. Harry wondered to himself when she had gotten so pretty, and why he had never noticed. Shocked at his own thoughts, he snapped out of it and continued looking around the table. Percy, for one, had not changed in the slightest, the only change was in what he chose to brag about. From prefect, to head boy, to his job at the ministry, to last year's promotion, it was always the same thing; Percy talked and whoever he was talking to pretended to listen. This year he was talking about his recent engagement to Penelope Clearwater. Fred and George were still bubbling over with new ideas for jokes and their store, but even they had a new "grown-up" look about them. Harry chuckled to himself; maybe the responsibility would be good for them.  
  
Harry asked Fred why they hadn't taken the empty shop for sale in Diagon Ally instead of the one in Hogsmeade, Diagon Ally certainly got more traffic. Fred laughed and answered, "We thought about that, but more students come to Hogsmeade. For some reason, I get the feeling that we'll actually get more business in Hogsmeade. Besides, we still have to look out for our little sister."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "I heard that."  
  
Yes, it was good to be back in the wizarding world Harry thought as things floated across the long table. It's especially good to be back with the Weasleys. Harry relaxed as he enjoyed his meal and thought about his birthday that was only two days away. Harry smiled to himself as he listened to the conversation at the other end of the table. Mr. Granger was explaining different types of dental equipment to a fascinated Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley seemed especially interested in the X-ray machine that could show the inside of the teeth and was commenting on how it would be a great project for the Ministry to investigate muggle technology. In turn, Mrs. Granger looked bewildered as Mrs. Weasley tried to have a casual conversation about garden knomes. Harry almost burst out laughing when Mrs. Weasley asked, "Well, what do you do when they bury themselves? If you dig them out, they've already moved!" Mrs. Granger tried to keep her composure answering, "Well, I don't believe I've ever had that problem."  
  
After dinner, Harry and Hermione unloaded the car and moved their stuff into Ron and Ginny's rooms. As Hermione said goodbye to her parents, promising to owl them at least every week until she got to school and reassuring them that they had given her enough money to buy all her school materials and start her own personal library, Ron and Harry started planning Harry's birthday party. Ginny lingered in their area, but left after a few minutes of not being acknowledged. When Hermione returned to the living room, she hardly gave a glance to Ginny's lingering glances. The three friends spent the rest of the evening planning Harry's birthday and the rest of their summer. Ron wanted to have weekly Quidditch matches in order to warm up for the season. Harry grimaced at the thought of the new Quidditch season. There were three open spots on the team as Fred, George and Angelina had all graduated the past year. It had been hard enough the year before to replace Oliver and Alicia, but replacing half the team was much more difficult. Ron had taken Alicia's position as chaser and Dennis Creevy had shocked them all making almost as good a keeper as Oliver had been. Of course, this year, the reserves were more prepared, since the year before there had been no Quidditch practices to train them, but still, it was quite different than having a team that's been playing together a couple of years. However, Harry was glad to have the opportunity to practice early; he was going to have to adjust to his new height.  
  
Finally, Mrs. Weasley came in and sent the three of them to bed. Hermione quickly agreed and headed up to Ginny's room. Quidditch was not her favorite topic, but she didn't mind it so much either. Harry and Ron trudged up the stairs, tired but happy. After all, they were all together and still had eventful month ahead of them.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: I don't know if anyone is even reading this, but I will continue to post as long as I can. However, it would make me feel much much MUCH better if you would all send me a review, just so I know someone besides me cares about this story. Oh, and after this, the action should be moving a lot quicker. I just had to get them all together first. 


	3. The Best Birthday Ever

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the other characters, or anything else written by J. K. Rowling.  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The Best Birthday Ever  
  
After spending their first two days planning for it, Harry's birthday finally came. Even though the invitation had almost always been open, Harry had never been able to make it to the Burrow by his birthday. In fact, Harry had never had a proper birthday celebration in all the fifteen birthdays he had celebrated before. However, the day was nothing like Harry had been expecting. Mrs. Weasley woke everyone up except Harry bright and early, which might not have been the best idea, since Fred and George were usually very cranky if you disrupted their sleep. Nonetheless, everyone in the Weasley household came down to see the house magically redecorated for a suitable birthday celebration. There were candles floating around all the rooms, balloons hovering around the ceiling, a huge sign that said in Gryffindor red and gold, "Happy 16th Harry," a stack of presents sat on the floor in the living room and the biggest birthday cake ever sat squarely in the middle of a breakfast feast. Everyone scrambled to make last minute touches, while Mrs. Weasley put a stop to whatever trick Fred and George were planning above the doorway that Harry would come in through.  
  
Somehow, Harry had managed to sleep through the crashing and near shouting as if nothing was going on. Just as everything was in place, there was a loud popping sound from the fireplace. Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil had all crashed into the living room. Now that the rest of the Gryffindor 6th years had arrived, the Weasley's small living room seemed smaller than ever. Fortunately, nobody seemed to care, as they were all very excited to see Harry's reaction. If they had wanted a reaction, they certainly got one. Finally Harry came down the stairs, whistling, dressed and ready for the day. The room got silent at the sound of Harry's whistling and Harry walked into the room.  
  
At first he was stunned. Then his mouth dropped open s he took in the scene around him; however, he quickly had to close it as he got a mouthful of the steady stream of confetti that rained from the doorway where he was standing. Harry grinned widely as all fourteen people in the room chimed simultaneously, "Happy Birthday Harry!" Harry saw the flash of a camera as he walked into the room. Mr. Weasley was trying desperately to pose everyone in the center of the room for a group picture, but everyone was too busy trying to talk to Harry at once. Finally, using a voice-enhancing charm, Mr. Weasley shouted above the noise, "HEY! Let's take this picture and then everyone can talk to Harry over our breakfast, which is now starting to get cold." That got everyone moving. Mr. Weasley set the camera on a timer and ran to the back of the group. As soon as it flashed, Fred broke away from the group calling, "Let's eat," behind him.  
  
Breakfast was a whirl of excitement as Harry caught up with what all of his friends had been doing that summer and passed plate after plate of some of the best food he'd tasted all summer. Dean and Seamus asked Harry about when Quidditch try-outs would be and Neville turned pale at the thought of flying, catching and throwing all at the same time.  
  
"Well, they have to be as soon as we get back really. Half the team will be new and I really want to get some good practice time in before the first big game. I mean, we're playing Ravenclaw first, and they're going to have a killer team this year," Harry chatted happily.  
  
After breakfast, they all reconvened in the living room to open Harry's gifts. Harry looked at the pile with apprehension, he had never seen so many presents that were for him at once. He started with Fred and George's gift since it was the biggest. As Harry opened the box, a puzzled look came across his face.  
  
"What's in it?" Hermione asked plainly.  
  
Harry pulled out another wrapped box and looked to Fred and George. The twins eyes were shinning and they grinned evilly.  
  
"Open it Harry," George said suppressing a laugh.  
  
Harry opened the box to reveal a smaller wrapped box, which contained another one and so on. Finally, thirteen boxes later, inside a tiny box, Harry found a small Gringotts key.  
  
"Hey thanks guys!"  
  
Ron answered quickly, "I wouldn't be so quick to thank them. You haven't even seen what it is yet."  
  
The twins howled as Mrs. Weasley went about making all the boxes and wrapping disappear. Bill, who had apparently added to whatever was in the Gringotts vault, laughed right along with them and said to his mother, "So much for taking away their magic privileges to wrap Harry's gift. These two don't even need magic to cause trouble." At this, the twins laughed even harder and the rest of the room soon joined them.  
  
All in all, Harry got a book that looks up spells for you from Hermione ("Is this more for me or for you?" "It's for you Harry, why would I want to cut down my library time?"), and a book called Great Professions for Great Wizards from Percy. Ron, Seamus and Dean had all pitched in to get Harry the latest Firebolt, the fastest broom in Great Britain. Neville and his grandmother gave him a potions kit with rare ingredients. Lavender and Parvati gave Harry a set of tarot cards, so that he would stop borrowing theirs for his Divinations homework. Hagrid had sent Harry a book filled with pictures of different kinds of dragons and all kinds of information on them. Harry smiled at this, remembering Norbert, the dragon Hagrid had tried to keep in their first year. Finally, Harry opened his gift from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. It was a photo album, filled with pictures from the last five years. Harry looked at it in wonderment. There weren't any pictures of him that he knew of other than the one he had of himself and his parents when he was a baby and the ones that were taken for the Daily Prophet on occasion. Yet, this album was full of pictures from everyday things in his life the past years: Harry and Ron on their first day at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione at several occasions, several pictures of the Triwizard Tournament from fourth year, Harry and the Quidditch team, the Quidditch World Cup, and dozens of others. It seemed like there were so many, he would never be able to look at them all. Harry flipped to the back to see where they ended. He was shocked to see the pictures they had taken that morning! There he was, surrounded by his friends on his sixteenth birthday, smiling like he had never smiled before, underneath a rain of confetti.  
  
"Wow! This is great Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I really, can't thank you enough. I never expected such a gift."  
  
"Well, Harry, I thought it was about time you had some kind of good memories to look back on and I knew that those muggles never took your picture," replied Mrs. Weasley, a little teary-eyed.  
  
Harry was about to take all of his new gifts up to Ron's room to pack away in his school trunk when he noticed a small box that he hadn't seen before. "That's strange," he thought. "Didn't I get a gift from everyone?" He picked up the box and saw that it was from Ginny. He hadn't really expected to get anything from Ginny, but it didn't seem weird either since everyone else had given him a gift. He looked up at Ginny to find her watching him with serious interest. It was clear that she was worried that he wouldn't like it. Harry slowly unwrapped the small box and opened it to find an ancient looking ring on a chain. The ring was twisted into an intricate pattern and was inscribed on the inside with delicate looking runes. Harry had never taken Ancient Runes, so he couldn't read it, but something drew him into the ring. The chain it was on was just as intricate as the ring himself. Even though he was fascinated by it, Harry couldn't figure out where Ginny would get it and why she would give it to him. Silently, he closed the box it was in and looked up at Ginny, who was apparently satisfied with his reaction. Suddenly he realized that the entire room had gotten very quiet. Harry looked around to see everyone watching him, their eyes glancing from Harry, to the box, to Ginny. They had all seen the ring and were pondering the same things that Harry was himself.  
  
Ginny herself broke the silence by going to let Hedwig and Errol in as they were both tapping on the window. The two owls flew in carrying a large package labeled "All the Hogwarts Students Present at the Burrow." Mrs. Weasley opened the package and distributed the annual Hogwarts letters to the 6th year Gryffindors and Ginny. Lavender gasped at she looked at the list of required reading for the year.  
  
"They, can't really expect us to . . . to read all of this, can they?" she stammered, still unbelieving.  
  
Harry and Ron looked just as dismayed at the list:  
  
Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6  
  
Charms for Advanced Students  
  
Ancient Potions  
  
Dictionary of Potion Ingredients and Their Uses  
  
Self-Tranfiguration  
  
Advanced Transfigurations  
  
Animating Inanimate Objects  
  
Dictionary of Herbology  
  
Magical Plants  
  
History of Britain's Ministry of Magic  
  
Hogwarts Founders  
  
Real World Defenses  
  
Vampires, Demons, and What They Can Do To You  
  
Elusive Creatures  
  
Dreams and Visions  
  
Hermione's eyes were glowing as she read through the list. "I've always wanted to read that!" she exclaimed at something. The rest of the students grumbled. Ron added, "We haven't had this many books since Lockhart. No, I don't think we even had this many then!" Everyone else agreed and glared at Hermione who was still in rapture over the course book list. Harry glanced over the other things that would be needed that year, nothing new really, when he noticed that he had an extra paper in his letter.  
  
Harry,  
  
I hope you have had a good summer. There are some very important things I need to discuss with you at the start of the term. When you arrive at Hogwarts, please report directly to my office. I, of course, will have to attend the sorting ceremony, but I think there are things that require your immediate attention. I will leave a letter with everything you need to know in my office. Best wishes Harry.  
  
Dumbledore  
  
  
  
Harry read the letter from Dumbledore and then quickly put it away. He would wait until they were on the way to school to share it with Ron and Hermione, that way, they could discuss it in private. Fortunately, nobody had noticed Harry's letter and were busy planning a Quidditch match before everyone had to go home. After recruiting Fred, George, Ginny, and Bill, they actually had enough people to play with two full teams. Seamus and Dean both wanted to practice on their Beater skills, so they teamed up against Fred and George. Harry played Seeker for the twins team, and Ginny took the position with the other Gryffindor boys. Ron and Hermione took the positions of Chasers with Seamus, Dean and Ginny, and Neville and Lavender played for the twins and Harry. Parvati played Keeper with Harry's team and Bill joined the other side. After one quick game, (the snitch was practically following Harry), they played a very long game. Ginny turned out to be a very good seeker, even though Fred and George complained that they couldn't send any bludgers her way, it just wouldn't be right. Harry thought to himself that Ginny would make an excellent seeker indeed and resolved to ask if she wanted to join the reserve team this year. Finally, Mr. Weasley called out that it was time for everyone to head home for supper. After a couple groans and a few "Just one more game!" everyone came inside and gave their last birthday wishes to Harry and stepped back through the fireplace.  
  
That night up in Ron's room, Harry reflected on the best birthday he had ever had. He took out Ginny's ring and puzzled at it for a few minutes. He resolved that if he had the chance he would ask her what it meant. After all, it wasn't likely that a ring with ancient runes on it was just a cheap pieace of jewelry, especially not in the wizarding world. Setting it aside, Harry felt that something was missing. He had had the best birthday of his life, but something still seemed ominous about it. Harry looked over to Hadwig who seemed kind of anxious in her cage. Suddenly, Harry realized what was missing! Sirius, his godfather, hadn't sent him anything. That was very unusual, Sirius never missed sending Harry something for his birthday. It wasn't that Harry was upset that his godfather had not sent him a gift, it was just, he hadn't even gotten an owl saying wishing him a happy birthday. Suddenly, the ominous feeling turned into worry. What if Sirius was in trouble? Dumbledore's letter had certainly suggested that something was wrong that Harry needed to know about. Quickly, Harry sat down and wrote a letter to Sirius, just to make sure that he was ok. Hedwig looked at Harry expectantly as he tied the letter to her leg. He let her out the window and watched his loyal owl fly away into the night.  
  
Harry settled down and began to think. His scar had not been hurting him at all that summer. After last year, that was quite a relief. At the same time, the long period of quiet was a bit unsettling. Harry resolved to think more about what it could all mean later, since he wasn't likely to figure it all out in one night anyway. Just before drifting off to sleep, he smiled as he thought about what a great life he now had even if it was difficult to be the famous Harry Potter.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: So, there's the basic layout for the plot, but don't worry, there are quite a few mysteries left to solve. What does the ring Ginny gave him mean? What does the inscription say? And what about the note from Dumbledore? Does it have anything to do with Sirius? Well, I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out. Thanks to my first reviewer! Never fear, there will be plenty of action. To the rest of you, please please please review! 


	4. The Visit to Diagon Alley

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except the plot.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The Visit to Diagon Alley  
  
A few days after Harry's birthday, Mrs. Weasley suggested that they spend the day at Diagon Alley getting all of their school supplies and whatever else they might need. Since Ron and Ginny were the only remaining Weasley's in school, it would only be the four of them for the day.  
  
"Are you sure you don't need me to go with you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, almost longingly.  
  
Ron looked frustrated. "Mum! Harry, Hermione and I are sixteen and Diagon Alley's not even that big. I'm sure we won't get lost or anything."  
  
"Well, I suppose. It's just, well, it's like a ritual. Three more years and none of you will be in school."  
  
It was Ginny's turn to roll her eyes, "It's still three more years!"  
  
"Yes, and after that, the house might actually get some quiet."  
  
It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that this would be a good thing. Mrs. Weasley handed Ron and Ginny each a small sack filled with Galleons.  
  
"Now, Ron, I gave you enough for new dress robes as will as school robes, but I don't know if you'll be able to get brand new ones. I'm sorry Ginny, but the ones you got last year will have to do. I'm very sorry dear; I know you wanted those blue ones. Anyway, I also gave you each enough for supper at the Leaky Cauldron. Just remember to be careful with what you have."  
  
"Don't worry mum," Ginny grinned as she threw her floo powder into the fireplace.  
  
Ron, Harry, and Hermione followed Ginny into the fireplace and found themselves in the Leaky Cauldron with all Diagon Alley at their fingertips. They decided to save their schoolbooks for last, since they didn't want to carry them around all day. Harry and Hermione still needed to get their money, and Harry just couldn't see what the twins had put in his birthday vault, so the first stop was going to be Gringotts. As, they headed down towards the wizard bank, Ginny dropped back behind them. Hermione looked back and saw Ginny looking a bit nervous.  
  
"Ummm, if you three don't mind, I told my friend that I would meet her here to . . . do our shopping together. So, I'll, uh, meet you at supper."  
  
With that, Ginny ducked ahead of them and was gone before any of them could argue. Ron and Harry just shrugged; Hermione looked puzzled for a moment, but realized that there was nothing that she could do now since Ginny was completely out of sight. The three best friends headed happily towards Gringotts. Once there, Hermione exchanged her muggle money for Galleons, Harry approached the goblins to take them down into the vaults. After the usual wild cart ride down to Harry's vault, the goblin sneered at the three Hogwarts students until they tumbled out of the cart. Harry dug his key out of his pocket and opened the gold filled vault. Ron gasped, he had never seen so much money in his life.  
  
"Wow Harry. You must be as rich as Malfoy."  
  
"Somehow I doubt that. From what I've heard, Godric Hollow was no Malfoy Manor."  
  
"Still Harry, what did your parents do?"  
  
Harry pondered this for a moment. He had never really thought about that. They were pretty young when they had died. How did they get this much money? Well, Hagrid would probably know, he seemed to know a lot about Lily and James Potter. Harry resolved to ask Hagrid a bit more about his parents this year. Once Harry had collected enough money for the year, they climbed back into the cart and headed off for the other vault.  
  
"That's in the temporary vault area. It'll cost you two knuts to get there," the goblin sneered at Harry.  
  
"It does not. I should know, my brother works for Gringotts. Just get us there," Ron retorted.  
  
The goblin grumbled a bit, but set the cart in the direction of the vault. When they got there, Harry was almost afraid to open the vault.  
  
"What if the twins did something to it?"  
  
Ron smiled, "They probably did, but I really can't wait any longer. So if you don't open it, I will. Besides, you really wouldn't miss one of their tricks for anything."  
  
With that, Harry put the key into the lock and opened up the vault. It was much smaller than the Potter's permanent vault. Harry walked in first, ducking his head into the tiny vault. Ron and Hermione squeezed in after him. There was a table in the middle of the vault with a wrapped box sitting in the middle.  
  
Harry hesitated before he started unwrapping the box. "If this is another fifteen boxes all crammed into one, I'm going to have to do some serious damage to the twins . . . and maybe Bill to."  
  
However, the box turned out to be a perfectly normal gift. Inside were several items from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and a book called Ancient Egyptian Curses, which was most likely from Bill. Harry smiled as he removed the box from the vault and locked it back up. As soon as he turned the key to lock the vault, the key vanished. Ron and Hermione were already back in the cart, so Harry joined them and prepared for the ride back to the Gringotts entrance.  
  
After the bank, Harry listened as Hermione and Ron debated over where to go next.  
  
"You heard your mom! You need to get new robes. Really, Ron, yours don't even reach your ankles anymore."  
  
"But I want to go check on Quidditch supplies, I'm going to need those too!"  
  
"And how do you plan on affording new Quidditch supplies. Poor Ginny doesn't even get new robes this year and your talking about Quidditch supplies!"  
  
"Well, I just won't buy all the books. It's not my fault that course book list is so bloody long."  
  
"Don't be a stupid git Ron, you have to buy your books."  
  
"No I don't, I'll borrow yours."  
  
Harry had lost interest in their argument long ago when he noticed a familiar figure near the window in Madam Malkin's.  
  
"Hey, guys, I'll see you in bit."  
  
With that, Harry left a bewildered Ron and Hermione to finish their argument. He walked into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and scanned the room for the girl he had seen in the window. Madam Malkin was in the corner fitting a first year student for his new school robes. Apparently, the eleven year old boy had problems standing still as he kept turning and looking at things. Madam Malkin was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. Harry finally saw whom he had come in to find. Ginny was looking through a rack of girl's dress robes. She pulled out a pale blue robe that shimmered kind of like silver and sighed. Harry really didn't want to interrupt her, but couldn't help himself.  
  
"That would look really pretty on you Ginny. You should get it for the Yule Ball," Harry said awkwardly.  
  
Ginny gasped and looked up. "Oh Harry! Where are . . . I mean . . .I couldn't . . . I mean, thanks. I really like it, but I could never afford it."  
  
"Why don't you just try it on? That couldn't hurt."  
  
"That's true . . . well, why not?"  
  
Ginny went off happily to the dressing rooms. Harry reflected on the fact that she hadn't even blushed during that whole conversation. Ginny had certainly done a lot of growing up, she was so confident now. Well, at least as confident as a fifteen-year-old girl can get. While she tried on the robe, Harry found his thoughts drifting back to the ring she had given him for his birthday. He still hadn't had the opportunity to ask her what it was for. He started looking around the shop. He was definitely going to need new robes this year; like Ron, his old robes barely reached his ankles, it was quite embarrassing. Just as he began to sift through the black Hogwarts robes, Ginny came out of the dressing room. Harry's breath caught in his throat and he could have sworn that his heart completely stopped beating. After a moment, once he realized that he hadn't had a heart attack, he managed to find his voice.  
  
"Ginny, I don't know what to say. That looks . . . amazing."  
  
He wasn't kidding either. She looked like an angel and was positively glowing. Her eyes twinkled as she watched Harry Potter desperately searching for words and turning a definite shade of crimson. Ginny sighed as she looked in the enchanted mirror, which confirmed what she already knew. "Dear, that is a perfect fit, absolutely stunning. I think that young man back there just might agree with me."  
  
Harry had regained his composure by this time and had made his way over to where Ginny was standing.  
  
"You really should get it Ginny. I have to say, you would blow everyone away at the Yule Ball this year."  
  
"As much as I would love to, you heard my mom this morning. Stupid Ron had to grow out of his robes and there's no way that I can buy new ones. Not even with the money I had saved this year."  
  
"Well, your mum didn't say anything about gifts now did she?"  
  
"No, but really . . ."  
  
"Then I'll buy it for you."  
  
"Harry, don't be ridiculous. I can't accept that."  
  
"Well, I'm going to buy it, and I think it would look rather silly on me, so I think you better take it."  
  
"Harry!"  
  
"Hey, consider it a thank you for the singing valentine you sent me your first year."  
  
This time it was Ginny's turn to turn crimson. With that, she shut up and helped Harry pick out his own new robes. Ginny picked out a green robe, like his old one, but made out of a kind of taffeta that turned black when you looked at it from certain angles. Just as Harry made his purchase and handed Ginny's bag over to her, he heard a voice behind him.  
  
"There you are! We've been looking practically all over Diagon Alley for you. I thought for sure you would have gone to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Really Harry, you should see the new display they've got. There's this new secret play-making book, it's incredible. Oh hi, Ginny. What are you doing in here anyway. Don't tell me that you just couldn't wait to get your robes!"  
  
Sure enough, the voice belonged to Ron. Harry was going to have to wait to ask Ginny about the ring.  
  
"Well, I don't know. We weren't getting anywhere the way you two were going on."  
  
Hermione scoffed, "Well, I didn't hear you giving us any help. Although," she glanced meaningfully at Ginny, "you certainly had your own ideas of where to go next."  
  
Ron looked confused for a moment, "Well, never mind all that. Come on Harry, you really have to come see the new Quidditch display."  
  
Harry glanced back at Ginny and then followed Ron out of the store. Hermione sighed and then turned to Ginny.  
  
"So, what was all that about?" Hermione asked, her eyes shining with questions.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ginny replied hesitantly.  
  
"You know exactly what I mean. What were you and Harry doing? What's in the bag?"  
  
"We weren't doing anything. I was just in here looking around and Harry came in a little while later."  
  
"What's in the bag?"  
  
"Ummmm . . ." Ginny didn't really know what to say to this. She didn't want to tell Hermione that Harry had bought her a new dress robe, but Hermione also had been there when her mom had told her that she couldn't get a new one. Apparently, Hermione caught the hint that Ginny didn't want to talk about it, or just got tired of waiting for an answer. In any case, she stopped asking and asked Ginny's advice on a new robe for the Yule Ball. Finally they picked out a deep burgundy one and went out to find the boys.  
  
After dragging Harry and Ron away from the Quidditch supplies and forcing Ron to pick out some new robes, the four headed off to buy their schoolbooks. Before they could go into the shop, they all heard an unmistakable voice.  
  
"Honestly dad, I'm the best potions student in the school. Snape even said that I should get a better cauldron. Don't you want me to have the best chances at becoming head boy? Not that I'm entirely looking forward to sharing a dormitory with that mudbood Hermione Granger."  
  
"Well, you won't have any chance of making Head Boy if you don't get your marks up. Really! Eight O.W.L.s! I expected more out of you. If you didn't spend all your time chasing after that Potter and actually concentrated on your schoolwork . . ."  
  
"I don't chase after Potter. He's just always around. Anyway, I bet he didn't get that many O.W.L.s. He's practically a dunce at potions."  
  
It was Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius. The four students standing outside the shop prepared themselves for a confrontation. Holding their heads high they walked into the store just in time to hear Draco's last comment.  
  
"Actually, I did quite will on my O.W.L.s, Malfoy. Or maybe they just gave me extra points for defeating the Dark Lord five years in a row."  
  
Lucius Malfoy glared at this boy with such audacity. "You'd better watch where you open your mouth Potter," growled Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"Oh, that's right," Harry continued, "I almost forgot that you're a Death Eater."  
  
Lucius growled in anger, his hand reaching for his wand. However, he looked around and realized that there was nothing he could do to the boy here without causing quite a disturbance, there were already more than one faces staring at the scene. Instead, Lucius looked directly into Harry's eyes.  
  
"You'd best learn to respect the Malfoy name boy."  
  
With that, he stormed out of the store, practically dragging Draco behind him. Harry looked back at his friends; Hermione looked as if she had a bad taste in her mouth, Ron looked really shaken up and Ginny looked amused.  
  
"You shouldn't have said those things Harry," Ron said.  
  
"I'm not afraid of Malfoy. He can't really do anything."  
  
"Maybe not, but you don't have to provoke him."  
  
After buying their schoolbooks, they headed off to the Leaky Cauldron for supper. Hermione had a bit of trouble because not only had she bought duplicate 6th year books, she had bought copies of all their old books. Ron protested greatly as she did this.  
  
"You already have all of those."  
  
"Yes, but these are for my library."  
  
"Don't you have them memorized by now?"  
  
"Practically."  
  
"Then what in the world do you need them for Hermione."  
  
"I don't NEED them, I just WANT them. They'll be a good reference someday."  
  
Well, Hermione got her way, despite Ron's protestations. She had bought duplicate copies of every book except Lockhart's and The Monster Book of Monsters, which had been taken out of stock. Hermione hadn't really wanted another copy of the man-eating book anyway. At supper, they relaxed and wondered about what the next year was going to bring. Harry mentioned that he hadn't heard from Sirius. Hedwig had come back the day before with no response and Harry had become very worried.  
  
"Gosh Harry," Hermione said thoughtfully, "What do you think could have happened to him?"  
  
"I don't know. He never forgets my birthday."  
  
"You know, he's probably just in a position where he can't write to you without giving away where he is. You know, he's still hiding."  
  
"I never knew you had a godfather Harry," Ginny stated.  
  
"Um, yeah." Harry had completely forgotten that Ginny was sitting there and that she didn't know what had happened in his third year. The last she had heard of Sirius Black was that he was an escaped prisoner on the run.  
  
Soon, they decided it was time to return to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley greeted them happily, seeing that they were all safe and loaded down with school supplies. Harry had put Ginny's bag with his own so that her mother wouldn't notice. Later that evening, he decided to take it back to her, it might give him the chance to ask her about his ring.  
  
He found her alone in her room since Ron and Hermione were down in the living room playing Wizard Chess.  
  
"Ummmm, Ginny?" Harry said timidly tapping on her open door.  
  
"Oh, hi Harry."  
  
"I brought you, your robe." Harry smiled at her charmingly.  
  
"Thank you." Then Ginny looked at him and asked, "Why did you buy it for me Harry?"  
  
"Why did you give me that ancient ring?"  
  
"I asked first."  
  
"Alright, fair enough. I really don't know, it just seemed so perfect for you and I could see that you really wanted it. I guess, I just wanted you to be happy."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"I really don't know. Your turn."  
  
"I don't know either."  
  
"Where did you get it?"  
  
"I got it at the World Cup two years ago. There was a little shop selling ancient Irish artifacts. It kind of caught my eye."  
  
"How could you afford it? I know your dad didn't give you that much spending money."  
  
"I spent my savings on it."  
  
Harry's eyes grew wide. "Why did you give it to me then?"  
  
"I just got this really strong feeling that it belonged to you. I don't know what it does Harry. I tried translating the runes, but they're too old, or I didn't have the right books or something. Maybe Hermione can figure it out."  
  
Harry looked at her for a moment and then smiled. "Thank you Ginny, it's an amazing gift."  
  
"Like I said, it already belonged to you."  
  
"Well, I better go. If Ron found me in here, he would probably kill me or something."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes, "That's my brother. But," she hesitated, "you're welcome in here any time. I'd really like to . . . be your friend."  
  
"Goodnight Ginny."  
  
"Goodnight Harry."  
  
Harry practically ran straight into Hermione as he turned around.  
  
"Alright Potter, we need to talk."  
  
Harry paled slightly at Hermione's serious glare and tone. They went into Ron's room since Ron was still downstairs fighting with Mrs. Weasley about Quidditch supplies. Still pale, Harry asked, "What is it."  
  
Hermione burst out laughing, "You look like you just got caught by McGonagall."  
  
Harry relaxed a little, "What is it Hermione?"  
  
"What's going on with Ginny?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Do you like her?"  
  
"No. Not like what you mean."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"No, Hermione, I was lying to you," Harry answered sarcastically.  
  
"Well, if you say so."  
  
"I do. Now if you don't mind, I'm quite tired after today and I think I'm going off to bed."  
  
"Fine." And with that Hermione turned and left the room. A second later, she peeked back in and said, "Goodnight Harry."  
  
"Goodnight Hermione."  
  
That night Harry thought about what Hermione had said. Was it possible that he liked Ginny Weasley? He decided that, no, he didn't. This was nothing like when he liked Cho. Yet . . . Ginny had looked absolutely stunning in that blue dress robe. Finally, he came to the hesitant conclusion that it didn't really matter anyway, Ron would kill anyone that came anywhere near Ginny, even if it was his best friend. Still, Harry thought . . . and then he drifted off to sleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Well, there you go! We still don't know anything about Sirius, but we know a little bit more about the ring. And finally some Harry/Ginny talking, even though the real fluff won't be for at least a few more chapters. **Evil grin** Ok everyone, please please review! They make me feel so much better about myself. Thanks to RogueAngel and may, you guys made my day! 


	5. Dreams

Disclaimer: All the characters, setting, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, the title belongs to Jars of Clay  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Dreams  
  
  
  
Ginny Weasley was confused. She had spent her first two years at Hogwarts admiring Harry Potter. She had spent her second two years getting over him. Now, here she was, about to start her fifth year, Harry Potter free, and the only thing she could think about was Harry Potter. Honestly, that boy made no sense. Sometimes he could be so sweet and thoughtful and other times it was like she wasn't even there. The fact that he had spent the last month at her house made everything that much worse. Her mind kept flipping back to the day they had gone to Diagon Alley. That day he was so sweet, he bought her the gorgeous dress robe that was now folded neatly into her trunk. Then that night he had crossed the hall to her room, something he had never done before, and actually talked to her for a while. She had felt so silly, telling him that she wanted to be his friend, and he had only smiled. Since then, they had become better friends, although, he still ignored her a quarter of the time.  
  
Like today. When they had gotten onto the Hogwarts Express, she had followed Harry, her brother and Hermione into a car. Ron had promptly told her to leave because they had "important things" to discuss. Well! Ginny was far too strong of a person to take that! She continued walking into the next car, as if she had never meant to sit with them anyway. Even at that, Harry didn't say a word to her. Obviously, he didn't want her around to hear all the terribly important things they were going to discuss. It was stupid, Ginny knew. What did she really expect after all? It wasn't like she and Harry were that close and it certainly wasn't that he was going to start liking her all of a sudden. Then Ginny was reminded of the way that Harry fell all over himself when she came out wearing that dress robe. He had complimented her several times, but in the end, she was just Ginny Weasley. She knew she wasn't nearly as pretty as Cho Chang, but she also knew that Harry no longer liked the delicate Ravenclaw.  
  
Speaking of Cho Chang . . .  
  
That day when they had arrived at Platform 9 and ¾, Cho Chang was among the first to greet them. The seventh year girl looked particularly stunning that day, especially with her shiny new Head Girl badge. Harry and Hermione had congratulated her and talked to her for quite some time. Apparently, Cho and Harry had become good friends last year as they both mourned the death of Cedric. Ginny couldn't help feeling jealous even though she knew quite well that Harry was no longer interested in her. Then who was he interested in? Harry was a sixteen-year-old boy, certainly he had some love interest.  
  
Suddenly, her car door opening interrupted Ginny's thoughts. She looked up to find Harry looking back at her. He started before she could say anything.  
  
"Ginny, I'm sorry Ron told you to leave. I should have said something about it. Anyway, you're more than welcome to come sit with us."  
  
"What makes you think that I had planned on sitting with the three of you?"  
  
Harry just looked at her. It was as if he could see everything she had been thinking about for the last ten minutes.  
  
"Well, actually, I was kind of hoping that you would come join us."  
  
Ginny looked at him blankly. "Why?"  
  
"Look, Ginny. I don't have very many friends. You were right, I'd really like for us to be friends."  
  
"Harry, other than the Slytherins, who isn't your friend?"  
  
"That's not what I mean. I mean people that are really my friends, people that know me just as Harry, not as the Boy-Who-Lived. Other than Hermione and Ron, I don't have those kind of friends."  
  
"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean . . . well, I just thought . . ."  
  
"Don't worry about it. Come on, I really want to know what you think about all the stuff I'm going to tell them."  
  
"Wait. If you want to be my friend, why have you been ignoring me half of the summer?"  
  
Harry couldn't really answer this. He had been so taken aback by his reaction to her at Madam Malkin's, he was not really sure where his feelings were leading him. He was only sixteen after all and hadn't really sorted out the difference between hormones and real feelings. Plus, he was afraid that Ron would kill him if he really did have feelings for Ginny.  
  
"Ok, well let's try an easier question," Ginny continued when Harry didn't answer. "Why did it take you so long to come get me if you really wanted me to hear about all your 'important things'?"  
  
Harry relaxed. "Run-in with Malfoy. Stupid prat came in with his bodyguards. Honestly, you'd think he was really afraid someone was going to hurt him the way he makes those two follow him around."  
  
Ginny laughed and decided that if she was going to have Harry Potter as a friend, it wouldn't help to refuse his offer of friendship. Sighing, she got up and started to follow Harry out of the train car.  
  
"Harry? Do Ron and Hermione know that you came to find me?"  
  
"Er . . . no. I just told them that I would be right back."  
  
With that, she followed him into the next car and sat down next to Hermione.  
  
"What is she doing here?" Ron demanded of Harry.  
  
"I asked her to join us. I want her to hear."  
  
"Alright," Ron agreed, but he didn't seem to happy for his little sister to join the conversation.  
  
"First thing," Harry began, "Ginny, if we have to talk about Sir-, about my godfather, we use the name Snuffles."  
  
"Ok"  
  
"I still don't see why she has to hear all of this. It's not like she knows everything that happened and all."  
  
"Ron, knock it off or Harry will never get his story out," Hermione said giving him a look.  
  
"Alright!" Harry practically shouted to get their attention. "Well, when we got our Hogwarts letters, mine had a note from Dumbledore. Apparently, there are some things that I need to know about right away. I even have to miss the sorting this year again. Now, I couldn't think of anything that could be that important until I didn't hear from Snuffles."  
  
"Do you think that Dumbledore knows what's happened to Snuffles, I mean, if anything has happened to Snuffles?" Hermione inquired.  
  
"Dumbledore seems to know everything, but you know how he is. He couldn't just say something's wrong. He had to make it all mysterious. Here's the other thing, my scar hasn't hurt all summer."  
  
"That's a good thing though," Ron interjected.  
  
"Well, yes and no. It means that Vold-, You-Know-Who, hasn't been up to anything particularly evil. At the same time, isn't that a bit odd? I mean, I seriously doubt that his thoughts have turned to bunnies and puppies. It's kind of disturbing that there has been nothing going on."  
  
It was true; the summer had been eerily calm. Even the Death Eaters had remained calm. After the action of the last two years, everyone in the wizarding world was relieved, but no one had let down their guard yet.  
  
At this point, Ginny spoke up for the first time, "I don't know Harry. If You-Know-Who really was up to something, you would feel it for sure. The question seems more to be why he hasn't been doing anything."  
  
"Ginny's right," Hermione started. "I bet he's gathering strength."  
  
"That's somewhere along the lines of what I was thinking," Harry added slowly.  
  
"Do you think that it's connected somehow to Snuffles?" Hermione prodded.  
  
"I don't know. I hope not, but something tells me not to get too hopeful."  
  
The four fell silent for a few minutes, each of them deep in thought of what it could all mean. Harry soon drifted off to sleep.  
  
**Harry felt himself flying over a large area that he wasn't familiar with. As he pulled his broom closer to the ground, he found himself inside a gate next to a large building. Suddenly from around the corner came a dozen or so dementors. Suddenly Harry knew where he was, he was in Azkaban. Harry felt the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that only came when he was around dementors. Harry reached for his wand, but couldn't seem to find it anywhere. The dementors were getting closer and Harry was getting weaker by the second. Then everything went black.  
  
The next thing Harry knew, he was in a cave. It was pitch black and he still felt dizzy from the presence of the dementors. A few moments later, Harry's eyes began to adjust to the darkness around him. Then, out of nowhere, a red fire flared up in the center of the cave, allowing Harry to look around at his surroundings. There was nothing in the cave except the fire with its eerie red glare. Harry's broom and wand were also not in the cave. The odd thing was that there didn't seem to be an entrance anywhere. It was one large stone room, but the room was completely enclosed. Harry wasn't known to be claustrophobic, but he began to panic. Without his wand, how was he ever supposed to get out; he couldn't even apperate. Then Harry heard an evil, low laughter that echoed around the enclosed walls.  
  
"So, this is the GREAT Harry Potter. What I can't figure out is why you keep giving me such trouble."  
  
"Voldemort!"  
  
"Who else?" The voice seemed to originate from a different place in the room with every word.  
  
"Alright. If you're really Voldemort, why haven't you killed me yet? And why won't you show yourself?"  
  
"How do you know you aren't dead already?"  
  
"I think I would remember something as significant as dying."  
  
More laughter. "Why? Have you ever died? No? I have. As I recall, it was because of you."  
  
"Enough of this. What do you want?"  
  
"First, I'll patronize you and answer your questions. I cannot materialize in dreams; that's one of the side effects of my return. I have not killed you because I cannot. Killing in the dream-state is not possible because it is your body I must kill and fortunately for you, I do not have access to your body right now."  
  
"So, I'm dreaming."  
  
"You catch on quickly Potter," the voice snickered.  
  
"I'll ask again then: what do you want?"  
  
"Just to . . . warn you. Watch your dreams boy. Watch your dreams."**  
  
Harry woke with a start and the slightest twinge of pain in his scar. They were at Hogwarts, so there was no time to tell everyone about his dream. Probably best that Dumbledore heard it first anyway. Harry quickly woke Ron, Hermione and Ginny and the four of the climbed down from the train and looked and headed off to face another year, no matter what it would bring.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Ok, thanks to bec, who reviewed the last chapter. I know I usually wait a day to re-post, but I just had to keep writing and this was a pretty short chapter to get out. So, yea!!!! Two chapters in one day. That's good because I may or may not be able to write another chapter tomorrow. Anyway, how do you all like it so far? (I'll never know if you don't review!) I think it's turning out rather well, of course, I know what's going to happen. Anyway, I'll keep writing, but I want lots of reviews. 


	6. The Bad News

Disclaimer: I'm not making any money.  
  
A/N: Hey, I timed this well, all the first day of school stuff is coming out on September 1st. Well, that amused me anyway.  
  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
The Bad News  
  
  
  
Hermione, Ron and Ginny headed off to the Great Hall for the traditional Sorting Ceremony as Harry made his way through Hogwarts' twisting hallways to Dumbledore's office. Harry had been in Dumbledore's office many times and he always left learning something new about the headmaster who was more than he seemed. After saying the password, Harry nervously walked into the office. Harry approached the large desk and found the envelope with his name printed in Dumbledore's hand. The envelope seemed full, as if there were several parchments inside. Sure enough, there were several pages with several distinct handwritings. The first page was written from Sirius:  
  
  
  
Harry,  
  
Now, I don't want you to start worrying about me, but I might not be able to send you any owls for a while. I'm writing this at the end of your school year and leaving it with Dumbledore, so you probably won't read this until September. The thing is Harry, I don't know how much longer I can hide. There are some people in the Ministry who take their jobs far to seriously and still have not given up looking for me. I've had a few narrow escapes. So, I will owl you as soon as I am in a safe position to do so and I'll try to make sure to send you at least a letter for your birthday. Harry, if anything should happen to me, I don't want any of your daring adventures. I heard about what happened when you met Voldemort again this year and I don't want you to take any more risks like that. Focus on your school work and try not to think about the outside world. Oh, I heard you performed excellently on your O.W.L.s! Keep up the good work. If anything big happens, and only if something big happens, send Hedwig and let me know. She's a smart owl and knows how to drop a trail. If anything happens, let me know and I will do the best I can to help you. Now, don't get worried or start making any plans yet Harry, stick to your school. Hopefully, my name will be cleared soon and you can spend next summer with me. How do you like traveling? Good luck this year Harry.  
  
Sirius  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry put down the letter. Don't worry? Why couldn't Dumbledore have given him this letter before he left for the summer? Still, Sirius had said he would send a letter for Harry's birthday and he hadn't, he hadn't even sent a note with Hedwig. Something must be terribly wrong. Harry decided to keep reading. The next letter was addressed to Dumbledore:  
  
  
  
  
  
Dumbledore,  
  
I am pleased to inform you that the last of the remaining dementors will be removed from the Hogwarts area. We have located Sirius Black and believe that he is no longer a threat to young Potter. It is now only a matter of time before he is sent back to Azkaban, where he belongs.  
  
Cornelius Fudge  
  
  
  
  
  
At that, Harry's heart sank. They found him. Harry moved quickly to the next parchment.  
  
  
  
  
  
Dumbledore,  
  
Sirius Black has been recaptured! He will have a small trial on September the 2nd, but I assure you there is no reason that he would be released. I will inform you as soon as the trial is over and we may all sleep in peace.  
  
Cornelius Fudge  
  
  
  
  
  
At this point, Harry couldn't read anymore. What if it was his fault? Maybe they had tracked him from the letter Harry had sent on his birthday? In the back of his mind, Harry knew these thoughts were foolish, but he couldn't help wondering. If Sirius went back to Azkaban, Harry would have nobody again. It was true that he had the Weasley's, but it wasn't the same as having your own family. After Harry regained control, he picked up the last parchment.  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry,  
  
I'm sure this news is very disturbing to you and I must ask you to remain in my office until I can come talk with you. It is true that they have captured Sirius, but like he said, you do not need to be doing anything about it. You may tell your friends what has happened later tonight, but I must remind you that it is very important that no one overhear your conversation. On a happier note, Sirius has left you a birthday present, you will find it on your bed when you return to your dormitory.  
  
Dumbledore  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry just sat and stared at the wall. Dumbledore had been sitting at his desk for five minutes before Harry even noticed that he was there. Dumbledore broke Harry's trance by speaking his name, but Harry didn't move his eyes from the wall.  
  
"Harry, I don't want you to give up hope. There is still the possibility that Peter will be found. I assure you there are people still looking for him. Sirius did survive for nearly thirteen years in Azkaban before, I'd bet he'll survive it again."  
  
"He barely survived at all last time."  
  
"Sirius has more to live for now. There are people that believe him, there's you, there's his sense of justice. If I know Sirius Black, he will not give up that easily."  
  
Harry hesitated for a moment. "How did they find him?"  
  
"They had been tracing him since the end of last year."  
  
"So it is my fault."  
  
"No Harry, it wasn't only for you that Sirius was here to help last spring. He still has his own score to settle with Voldemort."  
  
"Do you think that he will be able to escape again?"  
  
"It doesn't seem very likely. They have double security on him. But . . . let's hope so. Harry, we can only hope for the best."  
  
"Right." Harry sighed. "Can I go back to my room now?"  
  
"I don't see why not." Dumbledore paused. "Harry, I think I have a birthday present of my own to give you."  
  
Harry looked at the headmaster dumbfounded. Dumbledore had never given him a present before. Dumbledore handed Harry a tiny mirror, only the glass was cloudy and he couldn't see anything in it.  
  
"That is a piece of The Mirror of Erisol."  
  
Harry gasped. "Why would you . . . I thought . . ."  
  
"It is not the same mirror that you discovered in your first year. Erised's brother created this mirror that is more like a window. It, unlike it's brother mirror, shows the truth, but only when we need it the most."  
  
"I still don't understand why you are giving it to me."  
  
"Because you, more than others, sometimes need to step back and see the truth. There is more expected of you than almost any other wizard your age. I know that you have many burdens Harry, and you have born them all well." Dumbledore placed the Sorting Hat back in its place for another year. "This hat never made a mistake Harry. You have shown true Gryffindor bravery more than once in the last five years."  
  
Harry finally turned from the wall and looked at the Sorting Hat. He was reminded of how he questioned the hat in his second year. Harry turned and faced Dumbledore, who was standing to show Harry out.  
  
"I cannot give that mirror forever, but I think at least for this year."  
  
"Thank you Professor."  
  
"Oh and Harry? The password for the Gryffindor Common Room is 'finklebots'."  
  
Harry walked slowly toward Gryffindor Tower. He thought about going to the kitchen, since he had missed the feast, but realized that he wouldn't eat anything anyway. It was already late, and he just wanted some time to think. Harry wasn't sure he was ready to tell Hermione and Ron yet, although they were probably waiting for him to tell them everything. He just wasn't sure he was ready to tell them yet, but he needed to tell someone.  
  
Suddenly a strange thought occurred to him. If he told Ginny, she would just listen to him. She wouldn't give him advice or hit the books, she would listen. Of course, he would tell Ron and Hermione tomorrow, then they could do all that. For tonight, he only wanted to think.  
  
Harry walked into the Gryffindor common room to find it full of first years and a few older students. Ginny was there, curled up in a chair with a book. When had she become a bookworm? Well, I guess that happens when you spend half the summer living with Hermione. He walked over to her and lightly ran his hand over her hair. She looked up and quickly registered the look in his eyes.  
  
"Harry! Are you alright?" she said quietly. "What did Dumbledore tell you? Did you get dinner?"  
  
He smiled at her concern but slowly shook his head.  
  
"Can you meet me down here at 12:30?" Harry asked a little nervously.  
  
Ginny's eyes widened, but she nodded. Harry left her to her book and went upstairs to the 6th year boy's room. He walked in to find Ron and Hermione waiting expectantly. Hermione was the first to read his expression.  
  
"Harry, are you ready to talk about this?"  
  
"Not really," he said, not wanting to hurt their feelings. "Do you mind if I tell you tomorrow?"  
  
"Aw, come on," Ron protested, but Hermione shushed him.  
  
"I just need some time to think about everything first."  
  
"Hey Harry, what's this?" Ron was pointing to a box on Harry's bed.  
  
"Oh, that must be Sirius' birthday present," Harry said brightening for a moment before darkening again at the thought of Sirius. "I guess he left it here at Hogwarts."  
  
Harry opened the box to find one the greatest gifts he had received. There were several items that had belonged to the Marauders. There was a whole file titled "Ways to get by in Potions," another map that showed areas of the castle that Harry had not seen on the other map (this one did not show everyone's location in the castle either). There was another thing that really got Harry's attention: his father's quidditch robes. Ron was in awe as Harry pulled out the Scarlet Gryffindor Quidditch robes. They looked just like Harry's, except it had "Potter, Seeker" written in gold script across the left breast. The robes they played in now didn't have their names on it, but Harry thought it would be great to use his dad's robes sometime. After an hour or so, the other 6th year boys started coming in and Hermione slipped out. Ron studied Harry carefully:  
  
"You're sure you don't want to talk. You look miserable mate."  
  
Harry just shook his head and soon they were all in bed. Harry lay awake thinking about how much had changed in just that day. When he was sure that the other four boys were sleeping soundly, he silently climbed down the stairs into the common room. Ginny wasn't there yet, so Harry sat down on one of the red sofas and flipped through a Quidditch book he had found on one of the tables. Harry wondered when he was going to have time to hold try-outs for the open Quidditch positions. He looked up at the sound of a creak in the floorboards. Ginny was standing next to a chair facing Harry. She seemed very nervous.  
  
Harry was surprised to find himself thinking that the glow of the fire made her red hair seem almost alive, as if they were a part of the leaping flames. He pushed these thoughts from his mind as she took her seat and waited for him to speak. Harry gathered his thoughts as he took a deep breath. Then he looked around the room and muttered a quick silencing charm. Ginny started to get a bit anxious. She usually had a hard time keeping quiet. Not that she wasn't a good listener, she just had a tendency to talk a lot. Finally Harry started talking. He told her in more detail about his godfather and the events of his third year. She had relaxed quite a bit during Harry's story, happy that he was sharing some of his secrets with her.  
  
"I can see why you were worried when you didn't hear from him this summer."  
  
"Well, that's not the worst of it." Harry paused and Ginny sat, ready to listen. "You know that letter from Dumbledore?" She nodded silently. "Well, my fears were right. They, uh, they . . ."  
  
Harry couldn't seem to finish his sentence. Ginny waited patiently for Harry to find the words. She really wanted to reach out, take his trembling hand, but . . . she wasn't sure how her comfort would be received and she certainly didn't want him to think that she was still the enamored little girl she had been a few short years ago. After a few minutes, Harry regained his composure and continued.  
  
"Sirius was caught. Tomorrow is his trial and they're going to send him back to Azkaban. There's nothing I can do. Last year . . . he practically risked everything for me, and there's nothing I can do for him. If I could just get my hands on the damn Peter Pettigrew! No, it's probably best that I don't, I might use and Unforgivable on him."  
  
Harry looked up at Ginny sitting across from him. She had been so patient, listening, asking questions only once in a while. How had he overlooked her for so many years? He tucked these thoughts away for later examination. He was starting to wish he had one of those things Dumbledore used to siphon out his thoughts. Instead, he began pouring out all his thoughts and fears. Through all of it, Ginny had listened. She studied him carefully as he talked.  
  
After a long period of silence, Ginny asked, "Why did you tell me about all of this?"  
  
"Like I said, I want to be your friend. I guess that means letting you be mine." He grinned as he got up and held out a hand to help Ginny up. Together, they walked back to the stairs. Harry had shared some very personal things with this girl, things he would hesitate his own best friends, and he almost wondered why. Why did he think to talk to her? Harry and Ginny both went to bed that night, their heads full of thoughts they couldn't control.  
  
Before Harry fell asleep, a new fear rose within him. In the nightmare he'd had on the train earlier that day, Voldemort had warned him to watch his dream. Well, he certainly didn't want any more nightmares, but he wasn't entirely sure that that's what Voldemort had meant.  
  
**Watch your dreams.**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: So, I did get another chapter out today. Well, you never can tell. So, what did you all think of that????? I know, I know, I hate to send Sirius back to Azkaban, but it's really kind of necessary. Thanks to all my chapter five reviewers: Moira, Ruq., Fawkes, Estrella, and Andy. I was really excited to see people reviewing. So . . . the big question seems to be about Ron and Hermione. All I have to say about that is, we'll see what happens, they have a rocky road ahead of them. I'm not usually a R/Hr ship fan, but we'll just see where this year takes them. With Harry off with Ginny, that does leave Ron and Hermione alone a lot, but I don't know that I really want to break up the trio, so I don't know yet. The next few chapters will be more focused on finally developing the Harry/Ginny romance, chapter 8 will be very fluffy. But don't worry, there'll be plenty of action for our favorite trio, I can't bring myself to write pure fluff. Anyway, until the next chapter, which should be done tomorrow, review review review review!  
  
~~butterflystarr 


	7. The Letter and the Fight

Disclaimer: Here's a big surprise, I don't own anything, and I'm still poor.  
  
  
  
Chapter 7  
  
The Letter and the Fight  
  
  
  
  
  
The next day, Harry told Ron and Hermione all about what had happened to Sirius and as he predicted, he got an earful of advice and ideas on what could be done. Later, Dumbledore called him in to let him know about the results of the trial. Unsurprisingly, Sirius would be going back to Azkaban. The days and weeks passed, and Harry realized there was little, if anything, that he could do.  
  
Fortunately for Harry, he had new thoughts to keep his mind off worrying so much. First of all, the professors were not kidding when they assigned the massive list of course books. If they had thought last year was bad preparing for the O.W.L.s, apparently, it was nothing like the next two years they would spend preparing for the N.E.W.T.s. To top it all off, Snape was exceptionally bitter that he had not been offered the Defense Against the Dark Arts position and decided to take it out on Gryffindors (the new DADA professor had been a Gryffindor) and was giving them twice the amount of homework as the other houses.  
  
"Look on the bright side," Hermione said, "we'll all be expert potion- makers."  
  
"Then how come I'm not passing with flying colors?" Ron challenged.  
  
"Maybe you would be if you actually did the work."  
  
"I do the work!"  
  
"Reading my essay does not count as reading the book."  
  
"Why not? You've practically put the entire book in it anyway."  
  
"Alright!" Harry interrupted. "Ron, reading her essay doesn't count, Hermione, just . . . suffer with us for once."  
  
With that, the three of them burst out laughing and went back to their potions research. Even then, Harry was having a difficult time concentrating on his books. Quidditch was also claiming a great deal of his time. As the captain, he'd held try-outs for the house team the second week back. Not surprisingly, Seamus and Dean became the new beaters and Samantha Duncan, a third year, had become a chaser. Neville had been a bit disappointed that he was the only 6th year boy not on the team. The problem was, Neville seemed to attract disaster everywhere he went. McGonagall had threatened Harry that if he even thought of putting Neville on the house team out of pity, or even in the reserves, she would add to his Transfiguration homework. Not that Harry would really put Neville on the team, he could hardly stay on his broom, but he did feel a bit sorry for his friend when the rest of them headed out for Quidditch practice.  
  
Then, there was always Ginny to take Harry's mind off things. He had spent several late nights the past few weeks talking with Ginny in the Common Room. She had turned out to be a wonderful listener and had plenty of her own things to talk about. Harry was still a bit wary about how much he was telling her, but he trusted her. Maybe it was more than that. More and more as the weeks passed, he found his thoughts drifting back to her. Harry tried to treat her as he always had, for the sake of not getting not getting the living daylights beaten out of him by Ron, but it was getting more and more difficult. The truth was, Ginny had suddenly become a big part of his life. He looked forward to their talks with growing anticipation and found himself suddenly getting nervous about spending time with her. Yet, he couldn't figure out what exactly had changed. All that had happened was that they had become friends.  
  
It wasn't until he was sitting alone in the boys' dormitory, for once, that it hit him. He had taken out the ring Ginny had given him for his birthday and was busy puzzling out what the meaning of the inscription could be. He had never taken Ancient Runes and had no clue how to go about decoding the ancient writing. Ginny had said she found it in an Irish shop, so he guessed that the writing was some kind of Irish writing. He seemed to remember something about ancient Irish wizards, druids, from History of Magic, but he didn't know anything else. He turned the ring over in his hand looking at it fondly. At that moment, he realized that the fondness he felt for the ring was directed more towards the person who had given it to him than the ring itself.  
  
He rolled this new thought around in his head. Harry knew that he had feelings for Ginny Weasley, feelings that had surfaced and been deepened by their developing friendship, not produced by it. Still, he didn't know what to do about it. How were these things managed? Was he supposed to just tell her and hope she felt the same way? That prospect invoked a petrifying fear in Harry? What if she had gotten over her childish admiration and had moved on to other things, other people? If only there were someone he could ask. He couldn't talk to Hermione, she would get all girlie on him and probably suggest that he simply tell his new love interest. He definitely could not talk to Ron, it was his SISTER.  
  
Suddenly, Harry got an idea. He rummaged through the box from Sirius, there had been several things written by the Marauders, maybe there was something in them about how to deal with girls. Harry sat on his bed and scanned through the stack of parchments. There was plenty about sneaking out, classes, the ever infuriating Slytherin: Severus Snape, and all the little discoveries they had made over the years. Unfortunately, none of the Marauders seemed to write about their love lives. Then Harry found something he hadn't noticed before: a letter from his father to his mother. Then Harry got a brilliant idea. He would write down everything he wanted to tell Ginny in a letter, then he could decide whether or not he wanted to give it to her or not. He grimaced, it sounded like such a "girl-thing" to do. Finally, Harry decided it didn't matter, he had to tell someone, and if it had to be a piece of parchment, so be it.  
  
Harry knew even less about writing love letters than he did about ancient runes. At least with runes, there were books to help and as far as he knew, they didn't write books about girls. Harry sat and wrote, starting over six times, until he was completely satisfied with what the letter said. Reading over it again, he folded it up, but didn't seal it yet, still unsure if he was going to actually give it to Ginny. Then, Harry was surprised to find that he still had the enigmatic ring in his left hand. Smiling to himself, he fastened the chain around his neck and tucked the ring under his school robes. Up to that point, Harry had not put the ring on in any way, but just knowing it was there made him feel all warm inside with thoughts of Ginny. Just as he put the letter to Ginny inside the top drawer of his nightstand, the other boys burst into the room. Ron gave Harry a quizzical look as Harry turned around looking guilty. Dean followed Ron in and sat on his own bed facing Harry.  
  
"Where were you at supper Harry?" Dean asked. "You missed it! Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron almost had a duel!"  
  
"Over what?"  
  
"Nobody really knew, some old feud I guess. It was great though! They probably would have if Peeves hadn't gotten in the way."  
  
Harry laughed at the thought of dueling ghosts. They couldn't really hurt each other, so what would they do exactly. However, Harry knew that the Hogwarts were a lot of talk, but never actually hurt anything. All at once, Harry felt hungry, which was to be expected from a sixteen year old boy who hadn't had his supper.  
  
"Well, I'm going down to the kitchen. Do any of you want anything?"  
  
Despite the fact they had just eaten a full Hogwarts meal, all four of the other boys had a request. Harry rolled his eyes and said, "I'm the one who hasn't eaten here!"  
  
"Well, whose fault is that?" Ron answered. "What were you doing anyway?"  
  
This question was met by another guilty look from Harry and a squeaked out, "Nothing." Before Ron could say another word, Harry was gone.  
  
"Well, that was bloody odd. I wonder what he was doing," Ron said once Harry was gone.  
  
"He put something in his drawer just before we came in," Seamus added.  
  
Ron opened Harry's drawer and took out the parchment. He started reading and got about four sentences in before blowing up.  
  
"WHAT????" Ron shouted loud enough for everyone in Gryffindor tower to hear. "I can't believe this! When did this happen? Why didn't he tell me?"  
  
"Hold on mate," Seamus said, interrupting Ron's tirade. "What's going on?"  
  
"It's none of your business!"  
  
"And it's yours?"  
  
"OF COURSE it's my business! I can't believe he would do something like this! My own BEST FRIEND!"  
  
"What are you talking about? It's a parchment."  
  
"It's not a parchment! It's a . . ."  
  
Suddenly, the sight of Hermione in the doorway cut Ron off. With knowing looks on their faces, the other three boys quickly made their way down to the Common Room. Ron was left speechless for a moment.  
  
"What did Harry do?" Hermione asked calmly.  
  
"He . . . he . . .," Ron looked down at the parchment in his hand and handed it to Hermione. Hermione glanced over the lines with her eyes, but didn't read it. After seeing who the letter was addressed to, she didn't have to read it to know what it said.  
  
"I thought as much. Of course, they both deny it, but it's so obvious."  
  
"YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS???"  
  
"Like I said, Ron, they both deny it, but you can hardly look at them anymore without seeing how they feel about each other."  
  
"Ginny doesn't . . ."  
  
"Of course she does."  
  
Ron was left speechless for another moment, and then another disgusted look spread across his face.  
  
"Then why didn't he tell me?"  
  
"Well, look at your reaction. He's probably been agonizing about what you're going to do to him when you find out."  
  
"Wait till he feels what I'm going to do to him."  
  
"RON!"  
  
"Well, this is my sister we're talking about. My baby sister."  
  
"She is not your baby sister, she's only a year younger than you."  
  
"That doesn't mean I have to like it."  
  
"It could be worse you know."  
  
"How? Wait. I don't want to know."  
  
Hermione giggled, thinking of all the ways it could be worse. "You know, you should really be happy with this whole thing."  
  
"And why, may I ask, is that?"  
  
"Harry's a good guy, Ron. He would never hurt Ginny. Your family has practically adopted him anyway. Besides, he has a lot to worry about, with Sirius back in Azkaban and everything. It'll be good for both of them; in a way, they really need each other."  
  
"Harry has us, he doesn't need a girlfriend. Especially if that girlfriend is my sister."  
  
Hermione sighed. She imagined that things would be bit different. If Harry started dating Ginny, he wouldn't be spending all his time with them. Of course, he would never ignore them. It's just . . . things would be different.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry entered the Common Room, surprised to find Seamus, Dean, and Neville sitting around the fire. He passed out their food and asked why they were all downstairs.  
  
"Harry," Neville began, "I think you'd better go talk to Ron. He, er, seemed kind of . . . upset . . . with you."  
  
Harry looked puzzled for a moment, then without another word, headed directly up to his room. When he walked in, Hermione was sitting on his bed talking to Ron, who was facing her sitting on his own bed. Hermione got up immediately and walked quickly out of the room, lightly touching Harry's arm as she past him. Harry looked at Ron, who didn't seem to know how to look at just that moment, and sat down on his bed, where Hermione had just been.  
  
Ron started by handing Harry the parchment. "I found this," he grumbled.  
  
Harry's eyes went wide, but he stayed silent, waiting for Ron's reaction.  
  
Ron continued, "Are you really going to give that to her?"  
  
"I, uh, don't know."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I don't know. I haven't decided yet."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I just haven't," Harry said irritably. He really hadn't been in the mood for an interrogation.  
  
"When were you planning on telling me about all this."  
  
"Possibly before I told her . . ."  
  
"POSSIBLY!!"  
  
"I wasn't sure how you were going to take it. I mean, she is your little sister and all."  
  
"Exactly Harry. Don't you think it would be weird for me to see my best friend and my LITTLE SISTER together?"  
  
"Well, yes, I understand what you mean. It's just that . . ."  
  
"You don't even have time for a girlfriend!"  
  
"Are YOU the expert on what I have and don't have time for? Maybe I don't have time for a best friend either!"  
  
"Well, is that the way you want it?"  
  
"Of course not!"  
  
"What about Voldemort?"  
  
"What about him?"  
  
"Ginny will be a target or get mixed up in it somehow."  
  
"She did that without my help. Remember her first year?"  
  
"Ok, fine!"  
  
"What do you want Ron?"  
  
"You should have asked me."  
  
"ASKED?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ask you what Ron? Oh, by the way Ron, would it bother you if I started dating Ginny?"  
  
"Something like that!"  
  
"Alright then. Ron, would it bother you if I started dating Ginny?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Why? I'm not good enough for her? Is that it?"  
  
"Of course you're good enough for her. I don't really think anyone else IS good enough for her. I'm just not ready for the thought of either of you dating, much less each other."  
  
"Well, don't you think it's time to start thinking about it?"  
  
"What are you getting at?"  
  
"What about you? You've had a crush on Hermione for two years and haven't breathed a word of it to her."  
  
"I have not."  
  
"I'm not blind Ron!"  
  
"Ok, fine. Maybe I like Hermione . . . like that. But YOU better not go telling her."  
  
"Why would I do a thing like that?  
  
The two boys fell silent. After several minutes, Harry looked up.  
  
"Would it really bother you? I mean, I know if I had a little sister . . ."  
  
"Fortunately for you, Hermione got to me before you did. She said a bunch of stuff about how it could be worse and how it would be good for both of you and how I can't stop Ginny or you from dating forever. It all made sense then, I just . . . I just need to get used to the idea."  
  
"Well, don't start worrying yet. I don't even know how she feels anymore. I know she had crush on me when she was eleven, but anymore, I don't know. She doesn't get speechless and turn red or anything anymore, so maybe she just got over it."  
  
"Well, there's only one way to find out."  
  
"I can't just tell her. I wouldn't even know where to begin."  
  
"Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem," Ron said with a grin on his face.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Ron walked across the room and opened the door. A very sheepish Ginny was sitting right outside the door.  
  
"I . . . I didn't mean to listen! I just heard you two shouting and came to see what was wrong. Then, I heard my name and . . . and . . . and I wanted to know what you were saying about me."  
  
"Don't worry Ginny," Ron said smiling. "I think you just made Harry's life a whole lot easier." Ron started laughing hysterically seeing the petrified looks on his sister and best friend's faces.  
  
"Er, alright," Harry started, looking only at Ginny. "I think we should go somewhere and talk."  
  
Ginny nodded and smiled nervously. Ron still hadn't stopped laughing, but had collapsed on his bed. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Harry and Ginny had left the room and shut the door.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Soooooo . . . there's the next chapter for you. Now, we'll get down to the really fluffy stuff next! I will get back to more of the mysteries and adventures, but this is a romance! I've been so happy that people have been reviewing, but please keep reviewing. Tell me what you think because I really want to know. By the way, thanks to Ginny and Ms. Raye Sinic for their reviews last chapter. What happened to the rest of you?? Just kidding. Anyway, I usually update everyday, so keep checking back. Also, I might rework chapter 6 a bit, I wasn't thrilled with the writing. For some reason, it was a hard chapter to write. Anyway, read, review and hopefully, I'll have a new chapter up for you tomorrow.  
  
  
  
~~ butterflystarr 


	8. Until Dawn

Disclaimer: Let me check . . . nope I still don't own any of this (except my plot).  
  
A/N: I was tempted to title this chapter Lots of Fluffiness, or, It's About Time, but somehow that just didn't seem to work, although, it might actually be more descriptive.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 8  
  
  
  
Until Dawn  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry and Ginny walked down to the Common Room, but since it wasn't that late, many of the older students were still there. Trying not to be noticed, they snuck out of Gryffindor tower and started looking for another place in the castle. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was a popular night for private talks, as the few classrooms left unlocked were occupied and so were all the other secluded spots. Both Harry and Ginny were getting quite frustrated.  
  
That was when Harry remembered the map that had been in the box Sirius had given him. It wasn't as elaborate as the Marauder's Map her already had, but there were a few things that Harry had noticed on it that he hadn't seen on the other map. One of the things he'd found was that there was still a way to get to the old Gryffindor Common Room. Part of the old tower had been destroyed in some war and the new one had been built right where the old one had been. However, the map showed that the old Common Room had remained in tact. With that sudden burst of inspiration, Harry took Ginny's hand and led her down a dark, winding staircase that seemed to lead under Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"Really Harry, how do you find these remote places in the castle?"  
  
"Well, lucky for me, my dad and his friends had about as much of a knack for trouble as Fred and George."  
  
When they had reached the place that was supposed to be the entrance, all there was was a large picture. The resident of the picture seemed to have long abandoned it. Clearly, the Fat Lady must have replaced it when the new tower had been built. Harry was reluctant to drop Ginny's hand, which was now interlaced with his own, but they did have to move the picture. It didn't take much to move the old painting out of the way; it was barely hanging on as it was. As Harry and Ginny stepped into the room, it looked oddly familiar. There was still a fireplace and deep comfortable sofas and red and gold drapes.  
  
"Wow," was all Ginny could say.  
  
Harry settled down on one of the sofas and Ginny sat next to him, but tried to maintain a reasonable distance between them. Both of them looked uncomfortably around the room for a minute. Harry muttered a word in the direction of the fireplace, and soon there was a blazing fire.  
  
"So, er, how much of that . . . the fight with Ron . . . did you hear?"  
  
Ginny turned bright red and looked down at her hands. "Um, I, uh, pretty much heard everything from when you asked Ron if it would bother him if you, uh . . ."  
  
She didn't finish, but Harry knew exactly what she meant. He reached out for her hand. Taking it he barely managed to ask, "And, would it bother you?"  
  
Ginny looked up at him, her eyes shining. "I can hardly believe your asking me this. I mean, I don't really know why you would ever like me. I . . . I don't really know what to say."  
  
Harry smiled and moved ever so slightly closer to her. "You still haven't said how you feel about it."  
  
"I . . . um," now Ginny was moving closer, "you know that I like you Harry," she practically whispered.  
  
Slowly, they leaned toward each other. They were only inches apart when Harry managed to ask:  
  
"Then . . . do you want . . . to . . . be . . . my girlfriend?"  
  
Just as Harry went to kiss her, Ginny looked down again. He leaned forward and they ended up bumping heads instead of kissing. Both of them opened their eyes and looked up in astonishment. After the split second of shock, they both burst out laughing at the awkwardness of the moment. The laughter broke all the remaining tension and uneasiness between them.  
  
Harry watched Ginny, laughing in the firelight and decided that she really was too irresistible. He reached out turned her face toward him and kissed her properly. Ginny froze momentarily from the unexpected kiss, but quickly eased into it. Their first kiss was brief and sweet, exactly as they both had imagined it would be. Backing away from it, Harry and Ginny sighed simultaneously. Harry settled back into the sofa and drew his new girlfriend into his lap. Ginny rested easily against him as he wrapped both of his arms around her. Harry kissed the top of her head before resting his head on top of her red curls.  
  
They sat quietly like that, adjusting to the feel of each other. It wasn't for quite some time that they started to talk.  
  
"Harry?" Ginny asked tentatively.  
  
"Hmmmm?" he murmured, bringing himself out of a trance like state.  
  
"That was my first kiss."  
  
"It was mine to."  
  
"Are you serious? I thought that . . . well, there had to be somebody else."  
  
Harry smiled. No, there hadn't been anyone else, and as far as he was concerned at that moment, there never needed to be anyone else. After that, conversation started to flow naturally. They talked much like they had the nights leading up to this one, the only difference being that they wouldn't let go of each other.  
  
After another period of silence, Harry leaned down to kiss Ginny again. She'd had the same idea and met him halfway there. This time, the kiss was deeper and more intense. As Harry's arms tightened around her waist, Ginny mover her hands to the back of his neck, pulling him closer to her. They carefully explored each other's mouths, breaking only briefly for air. It was if some magnetic force kept drawing them closer together and made it increasingly difficult to pull apart. Harry slid his hands up Ginny's back as he leaned her back onto the sofa. Her hands slid seductively across his chest until she broke the kiss to inspect something she found odd.  
  
"What?" Harry asked, still a bit dazed.  
  
Ginny pulled out the chain with the ring. She looked up into his eyes smiling. "I didn't know that you actually wore this."  
  
"Well, actually, I just put it on today. It was what prompted me to write the letter."  
  
"What letter?"  
  
"Oh, you didn't hear that part," he said teasingly.  
  
Harry reached into the pocket of his robes. He had managed to grab the letter before he and Ginny left.  
  
"This letter," he said handing it to her.  
  
Ginny threw him a questioning look but took it anyway. They were now sitting up again, Harry relaxed out on the sofa and Ginny curled up in his lap. Several times, as she read, Ginny gasped and blushed. Finally, she set it down and looked back to Harry. She studied his face carefully, especially his brilliant green eyes that had always made her feel numb all over.  
  
  
  
Ginny,  
  
I can't even begin to describe exactly what I am feeling now. As I turn over this gift you gave me in my hand, I can think of nothing but you. I think of our talks and how much they have come to mean to me. I think of the way your hair looks in the firelight. I think of the way you laugh, smile, and try to hide your smiles. I think of the way you've been there for me constantly, even when I didn't realize it. I remember when you tried on those dress robes in Diagon Alley this summer and all I could think of was how beautiful you are. I can't imagine why I never saw it before because you really are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I don't know why I find myself turning to you, lately more often than to Ron and Hermione, but I do. I thought you only wanted to be my friend because I'm the famous Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, but you've proven to be such a true friend. To tell you the truth, I can't remember what my life was like before. I don't know why you are the first person I think of in the morning and the last person I think of at night. These past few weeks have changed my life and it's mostly because of you. I have no idea how you feel now, but I would really like to try and see if we could be more than friends. I can't imagine anything better than being with you.  
  
Yours Ever,  
  
Harry  
  
  
  
"I had no idea that you felt that way," she said.  
  
"To tell you the truth, I didn't either. Until today. I mean, the thought had crossed my mind . . . over the summer."  
  
Ginny leaned up to him and gave him a lingering kiss. "When were you planning on giving me this letter?"  
  
"Well, certainly not tonight. If you hadn't been listening to that fight, I don't know when I would have told you."  
  
"Ah. Well, I guess eavesdropping does pay off every now and then," she said giving him another kiss.  
  
Pulling back a few minutes later, Harry suddenly realized that they had been gone a VERY long time.  
  
"Um, Ginny? As much as I'm enjoying this, it must be really late, and Ron is already going to kill me. I think we'd better go back upstairs."  
  
Ginny nodded in agreement. She got up and then helped Harry up. Hands entwined, the two made their way back upstairs. Light was already starting to creep across the floors of the hall. When they spoke the password to the Fat Lady, she raised her eyebrows, but let them in anyway. Before sending her upstairs to the girls' dormitory, Harry squeezed Ginny's hand and gave her a couple quick kisses. He watched her disappear from sight completely before bounding triumphantly up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.  
  
Trying to stay quiet, he slipped into the 6th year room and quickly into his bed. Ron opened one eye and watched him.  
  
"Harry!" Ron hissed. "Do you realize what time it is?"  
  
"Don't tell me you were waiting up for me," Harry whispered back.  
  
"Now I really don't want to know what you were doing with my sister until dawn, but . . . but . . . I guess it worked out then?"  
  
"Yes Ron, it worked out just fine."  
  
"So you're officially dating then?"  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"Well, I guess I can manage to be happy for you, but don't even think about kissing her when I'm around."  
  
"Ron?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think you can keep it down? I need to get some sleep."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Alright, well if that isn't fluffiness enough for you all, I don't know what is. Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 7: Moira-Angela Darling, Leeann, may, and Steffi. Oh, and if anyone else wants me to e- mail them when I update, just leave your e-mail in a review. Like I said before, I'm trying to update everyday, but things are going to get a little crazy after this. I'm moving out of where I live right now on Friday, but can't move into my apartment until the 22nd , and I still have to pack everything. Plus, my birthday is next week, so I'm just going to go stay with my parents for a couple weeks. I'll try to update while I'm there, but it won't be as often. Then when I get back, my life will become a lot busier. Anyway, the point is, I'll do my best and update as often as I can. Please please review, it only takes a couple seconds to make me really happy. Your reviews have all been so sweet and encouraging, I'm glad you all have liked my writing. Until next time (hopefully tomorrow.)  
  
  
  
  
  
~~butterflystarr 


	9. Author Note

IMPORTANT!!!!  
  
Author's Note  
  
  
  
I'm sooooo sorry!!! I couldn't access fanfiction from my parents house. Even though the next chapter is already written, it's on a disk that I left at their house. Besides that, the past few weeks have been really crazy. So, the point is . . . I'm re-writing the next chapter and it should be up soon. I hope that you are all enjoying the story!  
  
  
  
~~butterflystarr  
  
  
  
P.S. I had a wonderful birthday for anyone that cares and actually wrote the last chapter on my birthday, so I'm looking forward to all the reviews you will all send as birthday gifts (wink, wink). 


	10. Strange Behavior

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, setting, etc., only the plot.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 9  
  
  
  
Strange Behavior  
  
A/N: It's my birthday today (9/10), so you can all send me a review as a birthday present.  
  
  
  
It was one morning at breakfast that Harry noticed the difference. Hermione was acting very strange. The thing was, he had been so preoccupied with his relationship with Ginny to notice the distance that had grown between Hermione and the rest of the group. It seemed like any other morning; they all sat at the Gryffindor table chatting about potions, divination, homework and the upcoming holidays. The only thing that stood out as odd was that Hermione did not join in the conversation of their schoolwork. Usually, she became highly animated when the table conversation turned to school, but this morning, Harry noticed that she seemed completely oblivious. As he pondered this, he realized that Hermione hadn't really spoken up much in the past week or so. However, he didn't have time to consider this, since the meal was over and Ginny was pulling on his hand, hoping for a few minutes to themselves before they had to go to their respective classes. Harry resolved to talk to Ron later and ask if he knew anything about Hermione's strange behavior.  
  
Harry kept an eye on Hermione for the rest of the day. She seemed to be acting normally, she raised her hand consistently, though not as vigorously as she had at eleven, she was still the only one who continually perfected the art of transfiguration, and she still managed to be the only Gryffindor to earn house points in potions, however begrudgingly Snape awarded them. Even so, she was unusually quiet around Harry and Ron. After class, Hermione darted out of the classroom calling over her shoulder to Ron and Harry that she was going to the library. Well, here was Harry's chance to talk to Ron about Hermione's behavior.  
  
"Well, that was weird," Harry started.  
  
"What was weird? Hermione going to the library? I don't know where you've been, but she's been doing that as long as we've known her."  
  
"Not the library exactly, but don't you think that she's been acting . . . different lately?"  
  
"Well, I guess she's been kind of quiet lately . . . but I didn't think you had noticed that."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Nothing, I just thought I was imagining it or something."  
  
"I just noticed this morning. It's almost like she's avoiding us."  
  
"Well . . . she did the same thing last year, remember?"  
  
"Last year she was studying for the O.W.L.s constantly and she WAS avoiding us."  
  
"Only because she thought we would get her into trouble, and she was a prefect and everything."  
  
"Maybe it's nothing, but I definitely think something's going on."  
  
"Why don't we ask her?"  
  
"Like I said, maybe it's nothing. I don't want to make her think we're attacking her."  
  
"What are you getting at?"  
  
"You ask her."  
  
"Are you out of your mind?! Have you forgotten that every conversation I've ever had with her ends up in an argument?"  
  
"That's not entirely true."  
  
"Alright, almost every conversation. Besides, why can't you talk to her? She'll tell you more anyway."  
  
"Nope, sorry. I promised Ginny we would go to Hogsmeade tonight."  
  
"There's no trip to Hogsmeade tonight!"  
  
"When has that ever stopped us?"  
  
Finally, Ron resigned himself to the task. Harry grinned as they approached the Gryffindor common room. They settled down at one of the tables and began to work through the mountain of homework they had been assigned that day. Ron heaved a great sigh as he worked through his herbology paper.  
  
"Harry, ARE there even ten uses for sage?"  
  
"There must be, unless Professor Flitwick just wants us to suffer."  
  
"I wish Hermione would get back from the library, I'm sure she's probably known them all since second year."  
  
"Maybe we should go to the library to find her. You know, you might even find a book on sage."  
  
"If there is one, every other sixth year in the school wants to check it out."  
  
Harry sighed and went back to his work. After a couple of hours, he looked up and realized that Hermione still had not returned from the library. Now that was definitely strange! Hermione may spend a lot of time in the library, but on any other day, she checked out half the library and returned with them. Harry's puzzlement turned into worry.  
  
"Ron, maybe we should go find her. She hasn't spent this much time in the library since first year."  
  
Ron looked up at the clock and quickly agreed. They piled up their books and scrolls, and headed out toward the library. Just as they reached the library door, they came face to face with Hermione.  
  
"Hi guys. If you need a book for any of our homework, I think I have everything we need."  
  
"Actually," Ron said, "we came looking for you."  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, we . . . you . . . just haven't spent so much time at the library in a long time."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Um, nothing I guess."  
  
The three friends walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence. As soon as they returned, they found the common room nearly emptied. Harry made a quick exit, saying he needed to go find Ginny, while Ron and Hermione remained in the common room. A few minutes later, Harry and Ginny came walking back through, Harry carrying his invisibility cloak. They didn't quite escape without one of Ron's big brother looks, but said goodnight anyway. Ron had long accepted Harry's relationship with his younger sister, but couldn't help still feeling protective of both of them. Once they had left the room, Ron turned to look toward Hermione who was diligently taking notes out of one of their books. It was true that since Harry and Ginny had started dating, there was more time with just him and Hermione; however, he still had never managed to tell his best friend how he really felt.  
  
"Hermione?" Ron began.  
  
"Hmmmm?" she replied not even looking up from her book.  
  
"Is everything alright?"  
  
She looked up surprised. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"  
  
"I don't know, you just haven't been talking to us as much. You aren't mad or anything. I mean . . . I can't think of anything I did . . . or that Harry did. You just seem . . . I don't know, kind of distant . . . and Harry noticed it too, it just took him longer to notice. I guess that's because of Ginny, but really, are you sure everything's all right?" The words came tumbling out before he even knew what he was saying. Hermione looked at him with half shock and half amusement.  
  
"No," she sighed. "There's nothing wrong. I guess I have been a bit . . . distant lately."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Er," she hesitated. "Just school, we have much more work this year, and I really have to concentrate."  
  
"What else?"  
  
"What do you mean what else?"  
  
"You're not telling me something!"  
  
"Well, if you know so much then what am I not telling you?"  
  
"How am I supposed to know? I wouldn't ask if I knew!"  
  
"Maybe there is something else and I just don't want to tell you!"  
  
"What wouldn't you tell me? I'm one of your best friends!"  
  
"There's no law that says you have to tell your best friends everything!"  
  
"Then what's the point of having best friends if you have stuff you can't tell them."  
  
"Fine! There is something else, but I don't want to tell you. You're not ready to hear it!"  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"I'd tell you, but I don't want to have to deal with your reaction just yet. I'll tell you when I'm ready. Right now, I don't want to tell you anything!"  
  
"Would you tell Harry?"  
  
"What is THAT supposed to mean?"  
  
"Would you?"  
  
"Why? Are you jealous?"  
  
"No! I'm not jealous, tell him anything you want!"  
  
"Maybe I will!"  
  
"You know, I only asked because I cared. Then you make this big deal out of it!"  
  
"You were the one that made a big deal out of it. Why should I have to explain myself to you all the time?"  
  
"You don't have to explain anything!"  
  
"Then I won't!"  
  
With that, Hermione grabbed her books and ran up to the girl's dormitory. The rest of the Gryffindor's ignored the entire scene, they had long since gotten used to Ron and Hermione's fights. Ron put away his stack of books and papers; there was no way that he was going to concentrate on his homework now. He hated making Hermione mad, but he really didn't think that he'd done anything wrong. After all, he had just asked. Hmmmmph. She was probably expecting him to apologize! Well, that certainly wasn't going to happen. Ron decided to go upstairs and wait for Harry to get back, although who knew when that would be. He really didn't want to think about when Harry would be back or what he was doing in the meantime. There were certainly disadvantages to his best friend dating his sister.  
  
When Harry did return, Ron was already asleep. It was too bad, he'd wanted to ask if Ron had talked to Hermione. On the other hand, he was glad he didn't have to face the "do you know what time it is?" talk. Harry noticed that two of the other beds were still empty. Dean and Seamus were still out practicing Quidditch. They had gotten into the habit of late night practices that sometimes including Ron and Harry and sometimes did not. Harry was tired and settled into bed.  
  
  
  
*Everything was completely black. Harry did not know where he was or how he had gotten there. There were sounds all around him, breathing, movement, a grunt or two. Harry reached for his wand and whispered the light spell, "Luminos."  
  
Harry gasped at the scene around him. He was in the center of the cave where Voldemort had spoken to him. Only this time, there were demons encircling him and slowly closing in on him. Even though they had covered a variety of demons and other creatures of the night in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they had never covered anything like these creatures. Human- like in stature, they had reptilian features and red scaly skin. One of them opened his mouth, letting out a constant shrill sound. Harry covered his ears, but would not close his eyes. For one, he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, the demons would attack and second because he was transfixed by the sight of the rows razor sharp teeth. Harry racked his mind for a spell or anything he could use to fight off these creatures.  
  
Slowly, the demons transfigured and morphed into more human-looking beings, but their eyes still glowed in a unnatural yellow color. This time, Harry recognized them as zombies, but he did nothing, knowing that they weren't really what they seemed to be. Harry raised his wand as they closed in on him. "Petrificus . . ."*  
  
  
  
Harry gave a start as he woke up. There was no doubt that the nightmares were getting worse. He wished that he could write to Sirius and ask what he should do, but what can anybody do about bad dreams. At least he wasn't dreaming about Voldemort anymore. However, Harry resolved that the next day, he would go look up demons and see if he could find anything that looked like the creatures in his dreams. He had been warned about his dreams, but couldn't figure out what that might mean. For the time being, it just meant that Harry would take anything he dreamt very seriously.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get this chapter out. Like I said, I had to pack everything and I haven't been able to write for several days. Anyway, I hope you like it. I'd love to hear what you are all thinking about the various mysteries. Review and let me know where you think the story's going, I love it when people try to guess! Thanks to my two reviewers for chapter 8, I really appreciate it. Anyway, it really is my birthday, so send me a gift: review! Just so you know, the next chapter should be pretty funny, I'm looking forward to writing it.  
  
  
  
~~butterflystarr 


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